Best Unclench Poems
"It is neither wealth nor splendor; but tranquility and occupation which give you happiness". By Thomas Jefferson
A place where the zeal of my heart dwells
The appeal of a simple life, as lucid tale tells,
within a framework of some tranquility.
Slower flow and less agony ooze credibility.
A sulfurous fury emanated from the darkness.
Nostrils flared with a fiery, acrid harshness
Roaring voices mutilate the uttermost peace
It is impossible to tango with a noxious piece.
My chest heaves, and my lips unclench in a sigh.
Release suffocating lighting with the word "supply."
I'm blessed in my peace, and that lets me smile
embroidered with power and dominance style.
To admit a stroll when I could spare some time
In a casual way down an uphill road, sublime,
I absorb it all in whilst I walk through the forest
Each idyllic scene unfolds for an hour of rest.
Where I'd stay is beside an almond tree,
Its gentle breeze murmurs as it hugs me
where I'd quietly sit by the windowpane
holding a mug while glancing at the rain.
A place to catch the firefly's graceful elegance
Relax amid a velvety starry sky for your dance,
A little peace and quiet amid life's frenetic pace
So my soul is punter attuned, full of helpful solace.
Written: April 13, 2023
1st place contest winner
Writing Challenge - 'T' Words - Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Constance La France
A whiff of Spring’s
A lovely thing
And oh, such joy
It seems to bring!
A sunny bench
Helps to unclench
The stress and sadness
I can’t quench.
It will not last;
Tonight a blast
Of frigid air
Will come on fast.
But that small whiff
Reminds me if
I wait, there’ll soon
Be blooms to sniff.
They agreed to go to their favorite hangout and cigars.
Once they were seated the waiter said that the restaurant had a deal on Italian wine.
In the beginning it was easy, turn the cold shoulder for a few days.
And that was followed by fantastic sex.
He loved to poker her and she carried her part.
But the children came and it was much harder.
They had a full house and the meanness .
The thing that bothered her most was his control issues.
And he believed he ruled over the family like a king.
She always peeked at his hands when they fought.
Whenever he was angry he would clench and unclench his hands.
He knew the relationship was over and he should have folded.
She wanted to lay all her cards on the table.
She had tried hard but when angry her face would get flushed.
They would rake in each others defects and the love died.
The high road was never straight and neither took.
He would raise past issues that were long dead and forget the progress..
He thought he was a stud but the children were his weakness.
He wanted to holdem but she wanted their best.
All she wanted was for him to ante up in the marriage.
They were both bluffing and the love weakened.
antidepressants
slow the evisceration
dulling guilt's knife edge
Jim was from Tuscaloosa
His remains flew home last year
professors applaud
sneering ripped knee pants coeds
stomp on old Glory
old vet asks for respect, no
deep breath, count to ten, unclench
Homicide bomber
seventy-two virgin quest
paradise, no doubt
Jim shielded a boy
Bomber in my AR’s sights
too slow, all sorts of fragments
We have done our job
And perhaps a bit too well
Our price tag hidden
The wolves half a world away
Panting in my ears, not yours
5/30/16
© Thomas W. Quigley
"Wedding of a Wench"
a joyous celebration promised arrived on lacy invitation
bring only your smile as a gift to offer congratulations
but my cousin, Marlene, was known as a troublemaker all her life
now so hard to imagine she'd make any man a good wife.
more out of curiosity my honey and I opted to go
after many years of disfunction change makes people grow
nothing could have prepared me for the show 'twas 'bout to see
there is a lid for every pot and fun is always free.
the rough flight to Las Vegas was bumpy and too long
spent all my time with eyes closed tight chanting the wedding song
as the plane landed I tried to unclench my fist
wondering which magic potion she used to snare a sharp dentist.
the trip to the chapel 'neath bright lights of Sin City
my high heels hurt my toes as I thought of words witty
recognized Uncles and Aunts who had now grown old
though the temps reached 100 my body froze cold.
we exchanged hugs and kisses then escorted to our bench
waiting for sweet music and entrance of wicked wench
she wore a red suit with her flaming red hair
with white shoes, blouse and hat looked like Santa Claus affair.
the groom, short and bald, wore a green laurel wreath
to cover his head with red tie underneath
his bermuda shorts were all plaid and too big
where oh where was the champagne, I needed a swig.
instead of gold rings they had tattooed pop art
with matching leg logos "till death do us part"
I was laughing so loud I thought I would die
waved a speedy hello and a hasty goodbye.
now what does one say to a couple's freak show?
no words came to mind that seemed quite apropos
I just gave them my business card once they were sober
as a wedding gift come see me for a duo cousin makeover.
*For Joann Grisetti's My Cousin's Wedding Contest.
Poetry Contest "Give me a Ghazal" Entry
No Other Way Out
So very still eyes cast inch by inch, still afraid of what's to come.
Not knowing how you got into this pinch, still afraid of what's to come...
Pondering your reflective time used to unbetter life.
A stone turns, a branch breaks, sudden flinch, still afraid of what's to come...
If only you were a good boy, a very, very good, good boy.
Your heart might breathe as your lungs unclench, still afraid of what's to come...
Saddened by your inability to stop the war in your head.
Thinking thoughts of the right way to lynch, still afraid of what's to come...
That's it, ending it, tie the knots like Michael's perfect braided noose.
Around the neck, standing chair, drop, cinch, still afraid of what's to come?...
Let’s be honest, I’m not that honest.
Be honest,
Just this once.
Forget all the dilutions of grandeur,
The noise.
Eat it so hard in the teeth that your mouth has a voice.
Unclench your tongue just long enough to choke on your words…
Then swallow your words,
They were never your word.
Just like it was never a case of, “she isn’t the other half of me”. Rational thoughts of that nature that tried to tie emotion to logic were as implausible as the idea that I had any idea in the first place.
It’s a philosophy contingent on empirically knowing that even the most limited of vocabularies can stutter words, reliant on misspelled synonyms that do more justice to a mind clumsy-drunk on love than any perfectionists wet dream of punctuation ever would.
It’s supposed to be messy.
Nights of trying to read the label on prescriptions through empty bottles gave self-induced illiteracy a formal introduction to Benzodiazepines.
See, attempts at dreams of you leave me isolated with feelings of resentment and distain in times of consciousness for nothing more than a lack of sleep.
Insomnia,
A new form of self-deprivation,
A therapy of sorts.
Wearing my “oh so apparent” membership card of bloodshot eyes and shaky hands with pride I’ve developed pipe dreams of time spent with the pillow in a utopia of…you.
I called you Benzo.
The irony is, the only provocation of panic that can get my mind racing fast enough to keep stride with the heart palpitations induced by you saying some other guy’s name is when you say mine.
The type of sickness I only experience when my mind decides to throw out the jury.
Anti-climactic, like her not being home when you knock on the door ready to recite a speech you wrote to explain how words aren’t enough anymore.
Standing there pledging allegiance to silence because the color of words has and always will be too dull to complete our portrait of perfection.
You keep your smiles guarded, with reason. All the more reason that I know I earned every last one, and the last one I got made me realize sometimes you got to burn it to the ground at a moment’s notice.
A flat line to a punch line, silence drowned out the noise…
Bury your guns deep in the sands of time
Break your daggers in half and leave them behind
Unclench you fist and loose your stare of hate
Live in love today before tomorrow comes to late
Masquerade the truth to hide your inner lie
Masquerade your soul and surely you will die
Masquerade freedom and war will increase
Masquerade your cause and live in peace
Masquerade your fear or fall upon your lance
Masquerade the fight and give the world a chance
Disarm your bombs before they suddenly kill
Rip up your message of malice that you daily quill
Douse the fires that you start and burn
Cross the lines of war sign the treaty to overturn
Masquerade the truth to hide your inner lie
Masquerade your soul and surely you will die
Masquerade freedom and war will increase
Masquerade your cause and live in peace
Masquerade your fear or fall upon your lance
Masquerade the fight and give the world a chance
Sheath your sword before your heart turns cold
Break down your divided walls and simply grow old
Sink your ships and swim to your homes shore
Return to a clear young mind like we all had before
Masquerade the truth to hide your inner lie
Masquerade your soul and surely you will die
Masquerade freedom and war will increase
Masquerade your cause and live in peace
Masquerade your fear or fall upon your lance
Masquerade the fight and give the world a chance
How do you know
He is closing the door
Did he ever not show
When you hungered for more
Could good even be great
Without the in between
Did you ever, not wait
To realize a dream
Your patience is scant
Your hope is lacking
Just because you can't
See the blocks he's stacking
Good things follow
The trail of patience
Don't let your faith be hollow
Or astray, on the fence
Unclench your hands
Revealing your palms
Get up and stand
Now breathe, be calm
You need only be still
This isn't your fight
Give Jesus the wheel
He's been hoping you might
I feel that you took everything I was and left me a shell,
I need to say thankyou for that and goodbye as well.
You see, I am Margie 2.0 now and it feels great,
Stronger, wiser, better for it I’m not feeling any hate.
I’ll never regret a thing I refuse to ever look back.
And look through the eyes of regret at what I lack.
Thanks again because of you I’m able to upgrade,
My love for you is the only part of me that stayed,
But that love for you wasnt healthy please understand.
One day you’ll see that and unclench your hand.
I dont believe that theres ever a wrong path,
It is what is look to the future not the past.
I wish you could see things from my point of view,
And treat everyday as a chance to recreate a new.
Don’t ever doubt that the universe has a plan,
That you wont always come to understand.
I really wish you the best from the bottom of my heart,
Your happiness really is all I ever wanted from the start.
You don't catch someone's love,
and then asphyxiate it
No, you let it go free
You don't smother another's love for you,
with pillows of bipolarity:
Obsession and neglect
No, show some respect,
and release their love
Your tightened grip around their heart,
unclench it
Let your hand be loosened, fingers spread openly
Let the dove that cry for you again fly free
Catch and release,
a way of life for any tender-hearted soul
Pure empathy
When you have affections for someone,
and another person has like affections for you ---
don't be cruel,
don't be coy
don't hurt their feelings
Their love for you don't destroy
You've caught someone's heart,
but you're in love with someone else
Release their heart,
let it swim free,
to go search for another,
hopefully as loving as thee
Devoid of senses and thought, what remains
Consciousness self-existent manifests
Vibrant, pristine presence, pure and unstained
How do we awake, again and again
What is the source of our breath that persists
Devoid of senses and thought, what remains
Wherefrom springs joy, though desires to rest lain
Where grow roots of our conscience that assists
Vibrant, pristine presence, pure and unstained
What is the anchor, holding soul in chains
Boundless bliss beckons; why do we resist
Devoid of senses and thought, what remains
Illusions birth delusion, boon now bane
We can, if we choose, become a bliss mist
Vibrant, pristine presence, pure and unstained
High time we exit, cyclic joy and pain
Let us open our heart, unclench our fist
Devoid of senses and thought, what remains
Vibrant, pristine presence, pure and unstained
21-July-2021
If my head wasn't filled with thoughts of revenge
I'd be able to unclench my fist and open my hand, to take God's in mine
Leading me out of the darkness
Stepping foot in his everlasting garden
Planting seeds of forgiveness for my enemies
So that by rainfall, I will be nourished and bud with new perspective
Washing away will be my pain and suffering
I'll be praying for my enemies
By morning sunlight
The ideas of vengeance, my sins
Will evaporate
I will ascend and be uplifted
Holding onto angers hand
Is like befriending the Devil
To not be in contact with God or your soul
Only to be entranced in the thought of sinning
Our lives are not guaranteed
We could all die at any second
I will leave this earth in peace
To join my fellow brethren
Not plotting revenge, only praying that those who have harmed me
Will reconcile with us in heaven
Forgiveness for our enemies
Is a courageous and powerful act for a person to do
So don't waste life's precious seconds cursing others
When you could be using that time to pray for you
Pray your heart can let go of those wrong doings
Pray your debtors will someday see the light
Pray eventually they can plant seeds of their own
And take God's hand to be led out of the darkness
When my life is taken, by then it won't be for granted
I will be strong, my ego I will have overcome
Even if it's with my dying breath, I will have the love to rise above
I'll be down on my knees
To God I will be
Praying for my enemies
There is a deep message within my soul power within my closed hand-
You can’t understand the fire that burns within me even standing at a
Distance would consume your entire family at its very roots.
The very smoke exhuming from the flames alone are more than enough
to cause any hope you have for me to dissipate in the atmosphere.
Never expect my truth to bow down to anyone other than He who has
Called me into the truth, never at the feet of what you refer me to be.
With all your self- proclaimed knowledge please ask your God for just
A drop of His wisdom to set yourself free.
Never will we dim our lights and take a seat in the darkness of the back
In the back seat of a bus as our forefathers did in years of yore.
We will not be intimidated into quieting the strength of our mighty voices
Neither muffle our majestic tones for fear of images hanging from trees.
No! Our pace will not slow down simply because your heritage is weak-
We are the seeds from the tribe of Judah our steps will not be redefined!
Soon we will unclench our fist and hold tight to the hands of our people-
We hear the songs being sung, the timbrels being played awakening our own!
Prepare yourself Esau! For your rewards will soon call your name.
~Shalom~
unclench your fists
there's no fighting here
why are you so hostile?